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Kansan
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Tuesday, March 13, 2001
Sports: Team unity needed as Jayhawks approach NCAA tournament
SEE PAGE 1B
(USPS 650-640) • VOL. 111 NO. 106
For comments, contact Lori O'Toole or Mindie Miller at 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
Inside: KJHK opened a new remote studio on the third floor of the Kansas Union.
SEE PAGE 3A
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Students work with wildlife
Sara Wunder, Topeka junior, moves an injured Redtail Hawk to a clean cage at Operation Wildlife. Wunder said the hawk had suffered a head injury that was likely to have resulted from a car accident. Photo by Selena Jabarra/KANSAN
By Sarah Smashr
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
F or more than a year, Sara Wunder has spent nearly every Sunday morning saving local wildlife.
Wunder, Topeka junior, volunteers for Operation Wildlife, a wildlife rehabilitation center in the countryside near Linwood. Fifteen highly trained staff members and more than 100 volunteers, including some University of Kansas students, care year-round for injured or sick animals at the center, Kansas' largest wildlife rehabilitation clinic.
Wunder, who is majoring in organismal biology, said working with animals at Operation WildLife was meaningful on a personal level.
"I've always had a thing for animals, ever since I was a little kid." Wunder said. "This was just a logical step for me."
Joe, a 17-year-old bard owl, is a permanent resident at Operation Wildlife. Joe was imprinted by a human and can no longer live in the wild. Photo by Selena
Jabara/KANSAN
pollutants in the environment
Volunteers like Wunder help treat more than 3,000 animals annually in hopes of returning them to the wild. Park rangers, highway patrollers and private individuals from nine counties bring the shelter wounded, sick or abandoned animals — house finches with conjunctivitis, coyotes hit by cars and bald eagles poisoned by
The center, established in 1989 by registered veterinary technician Diane Johnson, maintains a release rate of67 percent, compared to the national average of49 percent. The operation is funded solely by public donations.
Wunder said the knowledge gained while volunteering for the center was enhanced by Johnson's intelligence and supportive approach. She called Johnson a friend and a mentor.
"I've always had a thing for animals, ever since I was a little kid."
Sara Wunder volunteer for Operation WildLife
learned a lot more from her than I could probably learn from a text book."
"She wants to help us learn as much as possible," said Wunder, who also worked for Johnson as an intern at the center last summer." I
Johnson said students, who make up 10 to 20 percent of the volunteers, gained a lot from working at Operation WildLife because of the hands-on nature of the job. Volunteers might perform physical therapy on ducks with broken legs, prepare medication for sick raccoons, or feed mice to Joe, a bard owl who is a permanent resident
See ANIMALS on page 6A
Spam e-mail hits Exchange users
University works to prevent recurrence
By Cassio Furtado writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
University officials have started taking steps to prevent spam e-mails after being caught off-guard last week by an unsolicited advertisement sent to some students on the Exchange e-mail server.
Some KU students using Exchange
received a spam e-mail promoting Tostitts chips last Tuesday.
The e-mail was sent from KU Exchange coordinator Thela Simons' account without her knowledge.
Jerree Catlin, associate director or academic computing, said the spammers probably submitted the e-mail through one of many Web forms that allow anyone with some computer knowledge to send an e-mail using someone else's name and e-mail address.
"There are Web pages like that all over," Simons said.
Cattlin said that the person who sent the e-mail probably obtained Simons' information from e-mails she had sent, using a listserv, to all students who have transferred their KU e-mail accounts to the Exchange server.
Simons said she only used the listserv on rare occasions to post announcements and links directing students to Web sites related to the migration to the Exchange server.
Simons said she didn't want people to think that she would send spam to students who had subscribed to the listserv.
"I felt very upset about it," she said. Catlin said the University couldn't do much to block e-mails that come from outside accounts, so the only step it could take was to shut down the listserv for students on Exchange. Catlin said the University had turned off the list.
"There always those out there trying to get outside rules and regulations," Catlin said.
Aaron Profitt, Overland Park senior, said he thought that Academic Computing Services
See STUDENTS on page 6A
Students respond to retake rule
Policy draws mixed reviews
By Andrew Davies writer @kansan.com Kansan staff writer
Duane Bruce thinks students who have a bad academic semester deserve another chance.
That's why the Chillicothe, Mo., graduate student and University Council member voted in favor of a new course retake policy.
The University Council, comprised of students, faculty and staff, approved the proposed course, retake, policy
course
Thursday.
The new
policy
allows for
D's and F's
not to be
included in
the GPAs of
UNIVERSITY COUNCIL
students who retake a class. It also means grades of A, B or C received in the first class are averaged with the grade from the second class taken. Under the current policy, all grades are included in the GPA.
Under the new policy, students could also retake a class in which they received a D or F without University approval, unless they received a failing grade because of academic misconduct.
Bruce said University Council took into account that college was the first time many people lived on their own and made the transition from depending on their parents.
"The consensus would be a policy such as this would be a support for students who experience academic difficulty in their first 60 hours of course work," he said.
But he did say the new policy would allow students to avoid some responsibility for their grades.
"The only argument I've heard against it is that a policy such as this might prolong adolescence," he said. "It gives
students an excuse to not do well because if they don't do well they have a chance to retake the course."
Jeff Boone, Olathe senior,
said students who have had a bad semester deserved a second chance.
"If you're paying the money to retake the class and you get a better grade, I think that's what you should be rewarded with," he said.
But Rachel Pinon, Topeka senior, said students would still have to take responsibility for their original grades in courses they retake. Those grades will remain available to employers and graduate schools under the new policy, because they will still be included on transcripts.
"I think that if it's still on your transcript, the important places will still look at it and see it," she said.
Others think the new policy will be too lenient.
Bernard Hirsch, associate professor of English, said he was opposed to the policy because students needed to take the blame for their grades.
"My sense is at some point, people have to take responsibility for their actions or performance." he said.
The new course retake policy is not official yet.
Students have ample opportunity to drop a course or get help from the professor if it is too difficult, Hirsch said.
Members of the University Senate will be officially notified within 10 working days of last week's vote and will have an additional 10 working days to turn in petitions for a Senate review.
icy at the April 12 meeting.
If 100 signatures are collected, a ballot on approval of the policy will be mailed to members of the Senate.
If 50 signatures of University Senate members are collected, the Senate will discuss the policy at the April 12 meeting.
If less than 50 signatures are collected, the University administration will approve or reject the measure.
— Edited by Leita Schultes
Hall director involved in fight
By Cynthia Malakasis
Kansan staff writer
A physical fight that broke out between the Grace Pearson Scholarship Hall director and the vice president of Battenfeld Scholarship Hall is being investigated by the Department of Student Housing.
Ken Stoner, director of student housing, said the department was considering disciplinary action against the students involved in the fight.
"We're not finished looking at it yet," Stoner said. "It's still subject to the determination of what happened there."
Cory Doolittle, vice president of Battenfeld, said Jeremy Fotheringham, Grace Pearson director, punched him in the face when he tried to interfere and prevent a conflict from exploding between Fotheringham and another Battenfeld resident after the game.
The fight occurred after an intramural basketball game between the two halls last Tuesday.
Doolittle, Lincoln, Neb., senior, said a Battenfeld player yelled something at Fotheringham. Doolittle stepped in when Fotheringham, American Fork, Utah, law student, shouted, "What did you say?" and started toward the resident.
"He threw up his arm and hit me."
Doolittle reported the incident to Dan Suitor, the complex director for the scholarship halls. Suitor apologized on behalf of Fotheringham and instructed Doolittle to file an incident report with student housing.
Doolittle said.
Doolittle said he had no opportunity to respond because Fotheringham's fliancee got between them.
Doolittle said he filed a report Wednesday but had not yet received a response.
Matt Hastings, Leawood junior and Battenfeld resident, declined to describe the incident because he had not been present at the game. But he said judging from his knowledge of Fotheringham's character, he did not believe he could be at fault.
"I just want it to be taken care of appropriately," Doolittle said. "Something needs to be done."
Fotheringham declined to confirm or deny the incident.
Stoner said there was no standard disciplinary procedure applied by student housing to this type of incident and that each case was evaluated separately.
"Our director did nothing wrong," he said.
No police report had been filed on the incident.
Edited by Leita Schultes
VOICE coalition unveils election platform
Advising program a goal of Senate candidates
By Brooke Hasler writer@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
Making University of Kansas students feel like more of a name than a number is one of the primary goals of theVOICE coalition, said Jessica Bankston, student body presidential candidate.
Announcing its platform this week, Bankston said the coalition would work to develop a retention and monitoring program that would pair undergraduates with faculty members when they entered the University.
"I think for a lot of students, advising feels more like an annoyance," Bankston said. "I think it could be a lot more productive."
She said the coalition would also continue the work of the Student Senate Minority Recruitment and Retention
Committee started this year.
Hunter Harris, vice presidential candidate, said that, if elected, he would continue to work with the chancellor to make sure the issue was being pursued by the administration.
Making students' voices heard in Topeka and at the City Commission was another goal Bankston cited. She saidVOICE would possibly pursue the creation of a permanent student position with the commission.
The coalition will also work to develop a faculty/course evaluation system that students could view before they enrolled. Bankston said.
Bankston said the coalition would lobby the state legislature in the fall. She said the group would work to restore state funds for technology on campus. Currently, students pay a $1 technology fee per credit hour, which is matched by the state with $2 per credit hour. Gov. Bill Graves did not include the matching funds in
VOICE also wants to see the construction of a "Jayhawk Station," a centrally located hub on campus that would provide students with refreshments, snacks, newspapers and announcements of upcoming events.
his budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning in July.
Both Bankston and Harris said the platform was the result of a three-week "listening tour" by the coalition. Members of the coalition surveyed different campus organizations and living groups to see what students wanted on the platform.
Harris said the tour was a success. He said it exemplified the philosophy of the campaign, which was making students' voices heard.
"We visited groups ranging from HALO to the KU Cycling Club," he said. "We came up with issues that affect everyone on campus."
Bankston: plans to pair undergraduate with faculty
— Edited by Jennifer Valadez
Harris; wants to pursue minority recruitment and retention
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